And The Wolf Returns
by ReturnToSender
Summary: So comes the heat, must there follow the cold. He didn't know a heart could be swollen by it...and worse. Very light Smut. SasuNaru


A/N - I had a REALLY hard time with the Genre. So I didn't.

_And The Wolf Returns_

It stretched beyond him, scorching, an unfathomable heat that sucked all the air from his lungs and water from his eyes. His path forewith. A road of endless shifting sands, so deceptively treadable, mocking him. _Him_, the last rightful heir to the Uchiha legacy. Sasuke of the weighty name, heavy future, and pain filled life.

A joke. No better than that fucking _dead_ Shinobi hunter.

_Why am I thinking this? -_ he growled to himself _- Never have I questioned my path before, no matter the irony…and if there was bitterness, I've long ago put it aside…_

But he'd never put it aside, not really. Like a worm slowly leaching its way beneath the surface – miles below – the feeling had stayed coiled in his heart. Furrowing through muscle, creating holes. Bottomless holes.

Holes that vegeance couldn't seem to fill.

And now, here he was. Returned to the fold, yet not fully accepted, forced in the most arcane way to flex his loyalties. The Rokudaime had issued her demands and they would be met to receive his welcoming. And he _would_ be welcomed. For a time, at least.

Such an arduous lip service to Hokage and home.

"Do you accept this challenge Sasuke Uchiha, of the clan Uchiha?"

To survive a week in the most unforgiving of conditions, no food, no extra clothing, with only his katana, three kunai, and one pack of throwing stars?

At the mercy of any missing, or enemy Nin?

"Heh. Tell our beloved Hokage that I'd expected better of her…and yes, I accept your challenge."

After all, Orochimaru's preliminary training had been much worse.

"We recognize and take full note of your answer. In twenty minutes exactly, as the sun reaches full peak in the sky, you will be set loose. If you return before the allotted time collapses, you will be put to public execution."

The proctor paused in his rehearsed monologue, motioning forward another Shinobi. A fellow, whom Sasuke knew as well as his own body - his own blade callused hands.

"Naruto Uzumaki has been chosen through rout as your shadow. You will not eat, piss or sleep, Sasuke Uchiha, without him in full watch; though as likely you will not know he is there. Naruto Uzumaki will provide you no help, only to make sure you do not receive help from any acquaintance or comrade."

Here, Sasuke could see a smug smile on the proctor's lips as the man blew a puff of cigarette smoke in his face. Sasuke merely stared, chips of black ice – sucking black holes – cutting the man into a thousand insignificant pieces.

The proctor winced and coughed.

"Right, only ten minutes left to go."

Naruto had been strangely silent.

Sasuke thought it odd that his old teammate been chosen as his shadow, but quickly realized there were few who could keep up with his advanced level of speed. Perhaps Hyuuga, or maybe even Lee, but both would no doubt wish to massacre him and he'd no need for extra fights in the process of his starvation, dehydration and many other strains of the forthcoming challenge.

But _Naruto_, of all people…?

They hadn't talked much since he'd returned, bloody head of Orochimaru clenched tightly in his fist. It'd been his initial offering to the Leaf Village, because – like the wolf he'd so often compared himself to – the thought of wandering alone had scared him.

He wasn't afraid to admit it had down right terrified him.

"_A pack animal, through and through, eh Sasuke?"_

He turned his head, blinking, a strange heaviness settling in his gut and numbness in his fingers as he regarded the blue eyes that stared at him. They'd shed some of their childish delight and egocentric demeanor, now a more guarded, somewhat tired shade to their depths. It made Sasuke mad for a moment – _when did that happen?_ – and then a little resigned to what he'd lost in their friendship.

Power and vengeance did not pause for boys with blonde hair and blue eyes.

_But it missed them, didn't it?_

Sasuke chose not to answer that.

"What?"

"…Heh. Never mind. Sakura missed you."

_Did you?_

"…Has she been well? I heard she'd been training to be a medic."

Naruto smiled, and Sasuke felt the emptiness of it echo in the pain of his head. Maybe the pain of his heart.

"She's very well known now."

Sasuke sighed, deep and resplendent with unspoken apologies, eyes closed as the dry heat crashed over him in waves. Like the warm oceans at the cusp of Fire and Lightening.

He remembered that tropical finger-width of land with unusual fondness, his Tai-jutsus having been improved exponentially along those waters. The silence and lack of human contact had centered him in ways he could never hope for again.

He sighed.

The itch of sand upbraided his bare arms, reminding him that he wouldn't find such peace here – in some barren wasteland.

"She deserves the accolade, I think. We'd always overshadowed her abilities."

Naruto blinked, mouth opening and closing in shock.

"I never thought I'd hear you say something emotionally sympathetic ever, in my entire life even."

_Things change_ - Sasuke mused - _but some things never will._

He'd learned the importance of speaking and getting his point – emotions and all – across to others, as lies only increased the probability for error. And if he was nothing else, Sasuke was most assuredly a brilliant tactician.

He was still as selfish as ever though – nothing could change that.

"Your challenge begins now, Sasuke Uchiha. May your kunai always meet its mark."

000

Sasuke had no fucking idea what he was doing.

Oh, he'd begun his journey all right, heading south at the direction of some highly detailed maps he'd received from the Lady Shizune (despite his defection every noble was ill at ease to view the last of the Uchiha clan possibly die – highly unlikely though it was – and had no doubt pressured the Rokudaime into evening the odds) and eventually found himself in a brief oasis as soon as the sun set.

But this wasn't the part that had his head spinning with a million thoughts per second. No, it was the blonde he was currently fucking into the shrub dotted sand – a familiar blonde who was moaning his name like a goddamn prayer.

_What…am I doing…?_

As per their instructions, Naruto had followed – silent and watchful as the grave – and Sasuke had pretended he didn't feel him there - stalking him, burning holes into his back as blisteringly hot as the sun that dipped overhead.

Those long moments had made him feet like one of the jungle cats he'd often seen during his trips to the border for Orochimaru - large black or orange, sometimes gray beasts that circled each other in a steamy clearing. Muscles tensed, they awaited the instinctual signal that would send them both hurtling towards their fate. If Sasuke were a poet, he would've written words of _elegance_ and _perfect animal movement_ to describe the blood and teeth and utter violence that followed.

Whenever Naruto was around, he felt more like that animal – more alive – than he'd ever felt around anyone else. In any other fight with anyone else.

But he digressed…

Sasuke had stooped within a circle of oasis palms at a pond of murky water, the moon and a thousand bright stars reflecting, refracting, beneath its glassy surface. The dusty, sickening heat had begun to ebb, slowly slipping from his skin to be replaced with a cool temperature, but still there remained a stubborn heat refusing to fade.

Blue eyes watching him from blue-black shadows.

Sasuke hadn't even paused to consider what he did next.

"It will be very cold tonight, Naruto. Since there are no bodies of water near by, the heat only superficially warmed the sand and the night will cool it just as quickly. I won't ask for anything from you, but perhaps you'd like to share a fire?"

He was sure Naruto hadn't even heard everything before appearing by his side.

"I never did like the cold."

Sasuke had laughed quietly.

He didn't know who initiated the contact, but a twinge in his stomach (chest) had whispered his overwhelming guilt. There was something, he supposed, through a pleasure-clouded haze, that was utterly irresistible about blue flecked with golden firelight.

"_Sasuke_."

Colors had changed with incredible frequency across suntanned skin, his roughened fingers leaving angry red scratches as they moved and found special, secret, spots that made such maddening noises fall.

He'd kissed and licked the sharper angles of maturity and muscle, and traced a soft line of blonde hair to his rival's (most loyal friend, comrade, lover, love – if such were possible for a selfish bastard like him) pleasure. He'd almost spilled himself at the husky moans that followed, electrifying the short hairs on the back of his neck, tingling his skin.

And then Sasuke was inside him, thrusting, moving to a familiar rhythm the animal remembered just as well as the bloodying fight.

Soft grunts and stifled moans.

When it was over he blinked back the sting of sweat, and a muted shiver wracked his body as equally rough fingers traced shapes across his back. He felt the hard sole of rubber dig into his spine and panted softly between chuckles, deciding he'd perhaps went a little fast with the divesting of clothes.

But the thought of Naruto with his Anbu pants tangled around his ankles and hooked over his arms made him hard once again.

A drowsy voice reached his ears, just as Naruto's nails scratched welts down his back.

"Hey Sasuke…howza 'bout another go?"

Oh, and he could go, and go, and go, and go one more time for good measure.

000

"Do you think you'll ever be quit of this dream?"

Sasuke drank deeply from his water filled hands, the reflection of him distorted in the ripples. He wished everything in his world wasn't just so.

Distorted. Mutated. Disfigured.

His response was almost as quiet as the desert wind.

"To each his own, I suppose. But…if I were quit of this overwhelming feeling, I think I would only have another dream."

There was silence for a moment.

"…And what would that be, Sasuke?"

The water spilled like tiny slivers of glass through his fingers, slicing the pond in liquid lines beneath it.

"I believe I'd have a dream of you, Naruto."

000

The week had passed in a haze of sex, heat, a Shinobi attack or five, and starvation-induced hallucinations that Sasuke was sure Naruto had patiently sat through – quietly, soothing him with his presence. It was surprising how strong his presence could be when Sasuke wasn't at his own strongest.

He returned at exactly noon, the same spot where the proctor began the timing one-week before, the shouts and praising cries of many villagers and one or two betting nobles grating his ears. Skin paler, face a little gaunter and body much thinner Sasuke managed to walk as straight backed as possible toward the proctor – very sure the man had expected him being dragged back half-dead by Naruto.

_Fucking, cunt-ass prick_. Sasuke panted at the explosion of annoyance, unsure if his own body could handle any sustained levels of enmity. For a while out there, he'd made a few hour-long soliloquies about how he really didn't think he could make himself kill his brother, if said brother had strolled on by at that very moment.

Naruto had again, patiently listened.

"At twelve p.m. October twenty-seven, seven days exactly after accepting your challenge, you, Sasuke Uchiha, return to us a Shinobi of Hidden Leaf Village. We grant you heir, of the clan Uchiha, your hitai-ate, the line of your betrayal erased. _For the time being."_

The man paused, puffing red-faced at his yellow-papered cigarette, to practically throw Sasuke's headband at him. Sasuke caught it against his hand - razor-sharp smirk at his lips - with a deftness that belied his weakened state.

"I accept this, as I accept my welcoming."

He laughed lightly, and murmured something only loud enough for the proctor to hear.

"_For the time being."_

Because - like that _dead_ Shinobi hunter - he was merely a tool to be used. Used by his family's vengeance.

No matter how uneven that path, or how disfigured his purpose.

"_But you'll always return, eh Sasuke? To the pack, to me." _

Sasuke blinked, and coughed harshly through softly curved lips, and this time it wasn't quite so bitter.

000

A/N – meh, I was reading some Naruto manga and felt inspired. Also the wolf metaphor is something I wanted to expand on. Might consider a second part, if I get a couple reviews. I'm sort of a one-shot or two-shot whore. Anyway, please Review


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